p. 2 | 3579-Dancing by William Warren Prescott

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 10, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 40.

3579—Dancing

By William Warren Prescott

Is it wrong to dance?

W. T.

We presume that this is written by a Christian, and one who has conscientious scruples. Let us reason with him. Is that the right way to ask the question? Is it the better way to say, Is it wrong to do this or that or the other? Rather, is not the form of the question which the Christian ought to propound: Will this glorify God? Will this advance His cause? The question which came to the apostle Paul when he was stricken down on the Damascus road was, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" not, Lord, what can I get rid of doing? or, Lord, how can I please myself and yet not do wrong? The one rule which ought to guide the Christian is, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Now there are many things against which there is no prohibition in the Bible. The Bible is not a mass of prohibitions, or a set of mere rules; it is a book of great principles, and it is the principles of righteousness which ought to guide the Christian in all that he does. Of course there is dancing and dancing, and we read of those who danced, in the Scriptures; the children danced; David danced before the Lord when the ark was taken up to Jerusalem. Maidens danced. But we have no example whatever, nor approval whatever, of promiscuous dancing among the sexes. Look at it in this light: First of all, is there any good in it whatsoever? Is it not utterly worthless, in and of itself? Would you invite Jesus to a dance?

Secondly, is it not unhealthful, dancing generally in bad air, in close rooms, at unseasonable hours, and oftentimes in a dress that restricts the motion of the body and the proper functions of the lungs? Nearly always it is carried to excess in late hours and in overstrain of nerve and muscle. Really, it ought to be discarded because of its unhealthfulness, oughtn't it?

Thirdly, its associations. The tendency is inevitably downward. Dancing-masters have themselves confessed to this, and have told of the ruined lives and characters which began with the dancing-school and dancing parties. There is a better way, and he who finds the better way, the exercise that God wants him to have in treading willing paths in His service, will have no desire to follow a dancing life; and this brings us back to the one great principle: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."